7 Weird Facts About Feudal Japan

There was an emperor

Feudal systems of government are characterized by warlords that hold peasants’ allegiance in return for military protection. In Japan’s feudal system, however, there actually was an emperor. This emperor, though, had very little power, and functioned more like a figurehead.

There were female samurai

Women could be samurai, raising themselves above the peasant classes (although still below male samurai). In fact, fighting Japanese women were not unheard of at that time, as women had long been trained to fight using certain weapons like the naginata.

Farmers were the highest-ranking peasants

Hierarchy was big in Japan during the years of feudalism. Above all the peasants were the warrior classes, but there were different levels in the peasant classes themselves. Farmers rated as the highest, followed by skilled craftsmen.

The Mongols attacked

The shogunate in the mid-1200s did not care much for foreign relations. So, in 1268 when Kublai Khan became leader of the Mongols and demanded Japan submit to him, the Japanese more or less ignored him. Kublai attacked, landing his men in Kyushu, and then attacked again seven years later on the same island.

The Mongols were wiped out

These invasions followed the same model each time. The mongols would land their troops on Kyushu, ready to destroy the Japanese. Then a typhoon wipes them out.

The shogunate had a complicated seafaring relationship

The shogunate eventually started to turn its look outward and began suppressing piracy so that they could enter in trade with China and the countries of Europe, ushering in a new era of peace.

Just kidding. Wars erupted often over control of the trade routes.

Spanish missionaries converted thousands to Christianity

In 1582, Spanish missionaries led by Saint Francis Xavier managed to convert anywhere up to 150,000 Japanese people to Christianity.

Sadly, the shogunate was having none of that, and outright persecutions began 15 years later. When feudalism ended in Japan, exclusion and persecution of Christians became national policy under the Tokugawa administration.